RAVEN REPORT SEQUOIA HIGH SCHOOL NEWSMAGAZINE VOLUME XII, NO. 1 // NOV. 2020
TABLE of CONTENTS COVID-19 safe community service
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Community outlooks on distance learning benefits
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Student view on returning to campus
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Black Lives Matter in classrooms
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Changes in student sleep schedules
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Robotics club
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ELD students on exchange program
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Standardized test changes for seniors
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A day in the life of an online student: freshman vs senior
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COVID affects on DMV, license tests
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Soccer, football return to practice
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Black Lives Matter on social media
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Black Lives Matter local allyship
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COVID-19 trends
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Popular video games today / Videojuegos populares hoy
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Ecosystems affected by fires
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Letter from the Editors The COVID-19 shelter-in-place order issued by Governor Gavin Newsom took effect on March 13, 2020. Eight months ago. 32 weeks ago. 226 days. 5,439 hours and 13 minutes ago. We have been doing this for a really, really long time. Whether you’ve easily adapted to this new lifestyle, or you’re struggling with it each and every day, we can all agree that this journey has been nothing less than a frightening roller coaster. After being sent home from school on that Friday afternoon, many of us took the situation very seriously and with caution. In the first few weeks, roads were abandoned, sidewalks were empty, stores were deserted. People really were seeking shelter in their homes. However today, eight months later, this is not the case. Although the pandemic is still in an arguably worse position, people are comfortably out and about. Bay Area traffic is returning, stores and facilities are up and running again, beaches are being populated. Whether or not you’ve noticed yourself making “riskier” decisions since March, CNN, and many other sources are calling this phenomenon “quarantine fatigue.” Quarantine fatigue, sometimes called “caution fatigue,” has been defined as “exhaustion associated with the new restrictive lifestyle that’s been adopted to slow the spread of COVID-19.” Although this is much less talked about than the virus itself, it’s a real thing, and it’s probably going on in your life to some degree. We’re sick and tired of doing
everything virtually. We’ve just about had it with our family members after this extensive period of “forced family time.” The things going on in the outside world seem much more appealing than what sheltering in place has to offer. While many of us are battling the difficulties of quarantine fatigue, the pandemic is not in any place to make things easier. Many states are having spikes in cases again, and California is one of them. As of Sunday, Oct. 25, there were 906,106 reported cases, and 17,357 deaths in one day in California. Last week, experts warned that “the next six to 12 weeks are going to be the darkest of the entire pandemic.” I know you are exhausted. I know you are frustrated. I know you are fed up. We are too. But now is not the time to allow ourselves to “loosen up.” Now is the time for us to dig deep inside ourselves and find the strength to push through these feelings to protect our community, and save lives. On top of that, we are heading into the winter months where temperatures will be dropping, and cases of other illnesses will be spiking. As much as you don’t want to hear this, we are still in a quarantine, and we are still in the middle of a global pandemic. Stay inside whenever possible. Practice social distancing wherever you go. Wear your mask. Wash your hands. Stay strong and make a difference.
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The Raven Report is a Sequoia High School student publication produced in the journalism class through the efforts and decisions of the staff and the publication’s editors and adviser. The Raven Report is a public forum for students, staff, parents and community members. The Raven Report strives to provide Sequoia High School with informative, engaging and relevant news. The staff will exercise integrity and adaptability while promoting justice and transparency through professional reporting about the school, the community and the world.
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RAVEN REPORT // 20-21
STAFF REPORTERS
RHEA MUDGAL
ABBY AGUAYO
STEVEN ORTEGA
NATHAN BARNES
ALEX PARKER ROGERS
EDITORS-IN-CHIEF
ART EDITOR
ISABELLE BOGAN
REZA PARSEY
TAYLOR GAYNER
HOPE CALLAGHAN
LUC BRENNAN
ELLE PROPP
JAY TIPIRNENI
COPY EDITOR
VIOLET BURUAIVALU
ETHAN RUDY
MANAGING EDITOR
CARLA ROBERTS
RYLAN BUTT
BEN SCHWARTZ
CAITLIN DULSKY
ONLINE EDITORS
XAVIER CASTILLO
LUCIE TENENBAUM
NEWS EDITOR
ZOE DUFNER
YOSELIN CHILIN
GRETA REICH
TESS RESTAINO
ALEXANDRA DANCE
ADVISER
FEATURE EDITOR
SPORTS EDITOR
ARIANA HERNANDEZ
DIANA NGUYEN
MADELINE CARPINELLI
OSCAR NOLF
VIVIAN KREVOR
The secrets of service during quarantine BY RYLAN BUTT Staff Reporter Community service is very important for students because it allows us to become active members of the community. Though distance learning may seem like a massive barrier, there are still ways you can help your community. There are many different organizations in Redwood City and San Carlos who are in desperate need of volunteers to help them in these trying times, along with many clubs at Sequoia whose main focus is to do community service. Community service should not be seen as something you need to do for school credit, but should be seen as something that benefits both you and your community. “[Community service] makes me think of ways I can help more instead of just noticing the problem. I can go ‘Hey this is a problem’, and we can actually do something,” said sophomore Lexi Calloway, secretary of Key Club. Many people also say it allows them to have a different perspective on the world. Recently, many community service projects have been postponed or stopped due to COVID-19, demotivating many people who were interested in it.
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“Just because we are online doesn’t mean you can’t help”, says co-president of the Key Club sophomore Brian Khov. Even though it seems like community service is impossible in social distancing, many organizations and clubs still offer those volunteer opportunities. There are many great places to volunteer in the area. Some of the easiest and biggest places to volunteer are Project Linus, Compassion Week, Key Club, and Second Harvest Food Bank. Another good way to find volunteer opportunities is to read the weekly newsletter sent out by Sequoia in emails. The internet is also an amazing place to do research to find places. You should always be taking the most precautions possible when doing in person service and volunteering. Remember to stay 6 feet apart, bring a mask, hand sanitizer, and maybe even a face shield. You should also bring some sort of disinfecting wipes so you can wipe down any belongings you may have touched such as your phone or your wallet. One of the best ways you can do community service is by joining the Key Club at Sequoia. The Key Club is a club at Sequoia whose main goal is to do community service and help others. Though all virtual, “We still get together as a club and do community service”, said
Calloway. Even though the club has gone online, the core principles still stay the same. “One thing that stays the same is of course just helping other people out”, says Khov when asked about the club. Most activities the club does is online, so you don’t need to put yourself at risk if you don’t want to. “Make people feel like something good is happening during this crazy time[...]We mostly do things online like writing letters”, said Khov.
Photos courtesy of Brian Khov
Embracing distance learning BY VIVIAN KREVOR Staff Reporter Everyone is doing differently with distance learning. While some parts of an online platform may be difficult for some students, for others the same applies to in-person school. There are advantages to in-person and online school, although these benefits don’t necessarily apply to all students. Some students struggle more with working in an in-person school or online environment. This could be due to managing other activities or responsibilities, the environment in which students can better focus, and whether they work better in a group or independently. The variety of ways students respond to different schooling requires different forms of teaching methods. Even after COVID-19 is over, perhaps a hybrid between online and in person school should be considered as an option to students. “I like the schedule in distance learning,” describes Sequoia student Emi Fletcher. Fletcher describes that her ideal learning environment could be a hybrid between distance and in-person school. This is because she finds many aspects of both environments important. In Fletcher’s experiences, distance learning offers more accessible resources and efficient scheduling that makes it easy to review work in between classes. In in-person school, there is work time in a productive environment and there are chances to have better connections with students. Jack West, a Sequoia teacher, says “the state of Florida, for more than a decade, has required high school students to take at least one class online.” West describes that knowing how to use a learning system such as Canvas, and managing one’s time are very important skills that students can learn from an online learning platform. West continues, referencing a theoretical scenario after quarantine. “I think there’s an opportunity here...if students raise their voices and say ‘hey, COVID sucked in general, but one thing that could be nice would be for us to be able to choose a class or two here and there that we take in the online space at our own pace.’” While West is unsure if administrators have even mentioned this idea, he says he would be open to the idea of students having the option to have a hybrid of in person and online school. West mentions connections between people formed during in-person school is essential, and lack thereof has changed how he’s been configuring group work in his
classes. He also mentions that he likes the flexibility of resources to students; classes can be re-watched and almost all resources exist on a digital platform accessible to students’ through clicking the correct buttons. “I like being able to work in a familiar environment,” Freshman Katie Brodersen said. Katie attends Futures Academy, a private high school that teaches students one-onone, teacher to student. Katie prefers distance learning over in person school, and thinks that she is improving with Future’s environment, which entirely excludes group projects and group learning. While she would be more comfortable knowing her peers, she describes that in her experiences before quarantine, working with students was stressful and could be distracting. Katie represents perspectives on independent and online learning that is relatable to lots of students. “When you work by yourself you have more of a sense of what to do,” describes Sequoia student Chelsy Nava. Nava describes that her ideal learning environment would either be in person school, or a hybrid of online and physical school. She finds it much harder to focus on work at home, as there are many distractions and it is an environment where she has more freedom to do what she wants. She describes
independent work is easier for her, as it can be difficult to decide what to do with multiple people working on an assignment. Nava also wants to be able to make better connections with her peers. “How many people can learn a language by themselves? Right. So the philosophy around learning languages is you need to actually have some feedback,” French teacher Karina Chin said. Chin recognizes the balance of independent and group learning and describes that this is a commonly discussed and considered subject among teachers. How the balance is executed ultimately depends on the teacher’s teaching style and subject. Although, Chin has been having some difficulty with tracking the participation and needed assistance level of her students over zoom calls. She has been incorporating strategies including timing student’s response times, encouraging cameras on, and collecting weekly data from surveys. She describes that she pushes her students to make an online community where everyone feels welcome. In conclusion, there are advantages and disadvantages to online and in person school. Every student is different, and will respond to working environments in personal ways.
French teacher Madame Karina Chin conducts a Zoom class. Photo courtesy of Karina Chin
RAVEN REPORT | NOVEMBER 2020
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Online learning speculations BY TESS RESTAINO Online Editor The Raven Report surveyed over 50 students on Instagram about their experience with distance learning.
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RAVEN REPORT | NOVEMBER 2020
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A Fight For Education BY HOPE CALLAGHAN Art Editor For the past few months, the Black Lives Matter movements have reached a record high in participants and supporters all around the country, and it has been affecting our classrooms. The three founders of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, began their equality journey in 2013 as a Facebook hashtag, although within the first year it was drawing large crowds of protestors who shared the same goal of battling and dismantling white supremacy. The organization got larger and larger as the years passed while the need for change became a more and more widely accepted idea. Starting on May 26, 2020, the day after the death of George Floyd, the protests began again and the number of protesters broke records, making this movement the biggest in US history. Recently many people have taken to the screens again to voice their opinions and share their thoughts on the way our world is changing. Websites like Instagram and Twitter have become a hub of ideas for both sides of
the political spectrum. Sophomore student Sabrina Solan has been using her Instagram platform to spread awareness on the Black Lives Matter movement and subjects similar to it. “We have had time to learn more about it individually and come together as a group [because of the pandemic]” Sabrina said when asked about her view on how the pandemic has changed the spread of awareness of the BLM movement. Although she has since stopped using social media, Mx. Nguyen, an english teacher, agreed that participating in the spread of awareness online is a good step forward our nation is taking. “I did utilize social media to engage actively in changing [policies], she said about her experience with sparking change on social media. The changes that we have been watching for the past few years in our local and national governments have led to changes in our curriculum and students are being taught about the things that are causing and driving those changes.
“I [think] talking about the subject is important for students [because] it’s something that many people here in the US are fighting for,” Sophomore Bella Prado explained when asked about her thoughts on the new topic students are learning at Sequoia. Claire Heritier-Kerby, a sophmore Modern European History teacher, explained why teaching her students about the BLM movement was important to her. “Ideally, history would be a class that lets students have the tools to talk about the world around them and that is just not always the case with the courses as we have them now,” she explains, “so in order to do that, we have to make explicit time for those conversations to happen”. Throughout lifetimes of oppression, systematic racism, and white supremacy, black and African American communities have fought to have their stories told in our history books and the Black Lives Matter movements have pushed this dream into reality. Our education system is starting to understand its impact on the lives of students and their outlook on life positively and powerfully.
RAVEN REPORT | NOVEMBER 2020
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Distance learning sleep schedules By ALEX PARKER-ROGERS Staff Reporter Without the proper amount of sleep, the hurdles that come with distance learning and quarantine are heightened. Teens in general have always struggled with sleep, but with declining mental health, tedious homework, long durations of screen-time, and any other family or personal obligations, students are especially affected by sleep deprivation today. According to Nationwide Children’s page on sleep disorders in adolescents by Mindell and Owens JA , the average teen gets about 7-7 ¼ hours of sleep per night when really, they need a minimum of 9-9 ½ hours of sleep each night. This lack of sleep could be due to biological factors, like puberty, or environmental factors like school schedules. “After puberty, there is a biological shift in an adolescent’s internal clock of about two hours, meaning that a teenager who used to fall asleep at 9 p.m. will now not be able to fall asleep until 11 p.m.. It also means waking two hours later in the morning” as well as, “homework, sports, after-school activities (often occurring during the evening), and socializing lead to late bedtimes,” wrote Mindell and Owen JA on the Nationwide Children’s page. Sleep deprivation does so much more than make teenagers “lazy” (an unfair stereotype). It also has several effects on different levels of adolescence’s functioning. Whether it’s social, academic, or personal, today’s students are really vulnerable to the damaging effects of sleep deprivation. “Inadequate sleep will result in problems with attention, memory, decision making, reaction time, and creativity, all of which are important in school.” as well as, “...teenagers who get less sleep are more apt to get poor grades in school, fall asleep in school, and have school tardiness/absences.” explained, once again by Mindell and Owen JA on the Nationwide Children’s Page on sleep disorders in adolescents. So, now the question is, how are Sequoia student sleep patterns affected by distance learning? A recent survey was conducted across all high school grade levels to capture
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how sleep schedules and durations have changed with the onset of distance learning. Students' responses showed that the most common bedtime pre distance learning was around 11 p.m. and the average duration of sleep students got each night was 8 hours. However, since the change in school, students most common bedtime is 12 a.m. and they tend to get on average seven hours per night.
Similarly, sophomore Sarah King adds that Sequoia should “start classes at around 9:45 a.m. or 10:10 a.m.” “Getting on a consistent schedule,” writes freshmen Joyana Saha, would help her to thrive during distance learning. Teen Resource Center counselor, Judy Romero, shares the damaging effects of sleep deprivation that she has both observed and learned about with students at Sequoia and
When asked if students would describe themselves as tired on most school days the majority agreed and provided some explanation as to why. Some talked about asynchronous days and anxiety, while for others, a challenge was the amount of classwork they received. “I would make the class periods shorter so I can get my work done, or at least get started on my work sooner so I can get to sleep earlier and feel less tired” said freshman Zoraya King. Most students have observed their grades drop at least a little bit since the pandemic and relate this to the amount of sleep they’re getting. In order to perform their best, most students need around 10 hours of sleep per school night, which only about .07% of survey respondents claimed they were actually getting. Clearly Sequoia’s teens could do with more sleep and some even have ideas on how to help fix this sleep deprivation issue. Sophomotr Marcus Brewer suggested school start at 10 a.m. and end at 1 p.m..
teens in general. She goes on to explain the relationship between sleep and mental health in some students. “What we’ve seen when somebody doesn’t get enough sleep is that they become irritable, it’s hard for them to concentrate, it affects their motivation, they have trouble with memorizing things, it can also cause anxiety and depression.” She continued, “Sleep is so important to our bodies it can even affect your mood-if you’re feeling anxious or if you’re feeling depressed...it can even impact how students do in school, maybe their relationships at home...it can really impact your daily life.” Romero also has some advice for students struggling with a lack of sleep during this trying time. She offers advice ranging from combating social media/screen time addiction to anxiety induced insomnia. “For some students that have a lot of anxiety it can keep them awake. Right? You’re laying there and thinking about all of the things you
didn’t get to and all of the assignments you still need to do or problems with friends...what I tell them is that they can keep a journal by their bed or right before bed they write in it to get all their thoughts down-or having a to-do list right before bed and you just right down all of the assignments you still need to do so that you get it out of your brain before sleeping.” suggested Romero. She goes on to say, “I usually recommend putting electronics away before bed because if you have your cell phone near you and you see a message coming in, it is way too tempting to check it.” As well as important changes to make to better suit your sleep schedule, Romero also describes some things to stay away from. She recommends avoiding caffeine, limiting screen time in general before bed, only using your bed for sleep (not homework, watching TV, playing video ga.m.es, etc.), and keeping your sleeping space dark before bed. Equally important, Romero explains the risks and benefits of napping. “Some students will tell me they come home (from school) and take a long nap. So, sometimes a power nap is great...here’s the trick though, you should limit the nap... it’s not good for you to take long naps so it should be no more than 30 minutes” She added, “If you take more than a 30 minute nap what happens is that then at night you’re not tired and it’s hard for you to go to sleep again.” It may be too soon to tell, but based on a bit of research, student testimonials, and a school counselor who has witnessed this firsthand, there could be a sleep issue at Sequoia that has worsened during distance learning. It’s important to reach out for help during this time especially if you are struggling with mental health brought on by a lack of sleep or just in general. A lack of sleep can affect your mental health and mental health can affect your sleep. It’s a vicious cycle that can be remedied with a little bit of help. “I hope students know that sleep is very important because it affects their daily life and not to ignore how they feel and to definitely reach out for help. This affects all aspects of their life.” said Romero as a final take away from all of this.
RAVEN REPORT | NOVEMBER 2020
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Robotics club goes virtual BY REZA PARSEY Staff Reporter Robotics club. A haven for thinkers and Ms. Dayna Danielson, one of the faculty innovators alike. A place where people could advisors for the club, said that this year, the gather to spend time with friends and work teams will be connecting online to plan their together on building machines, robots. gaining hands-on experience. “They have Teams gathered to design, build, been using a lot of and code in the robotics lab. Zoom meetings Sophomore Justin Kumar and Discord,” said “They have been using a lot of joined the club because of his Danielson. passion for robots. Last year, Zoom meetings and Discord.” Discord is a he worked on designing and Ms. Danielson, club advisor platform where constructing robots, but not people can message doing much coding. He said each other and join that last year teams spent most voice calls, which of their time working together in the robotics makes it useful for clubs. She also said that lab and helping each other. club officers have the materials necessary However, because of COVID-19, things to build the robots at their houses and are will be different this year. Teams can no longer planning to distribute them when the teams gather to work together on their machines or start working on their robots. This includes bounce design ideas off each other. Everything gears, wheels, small beams, and fasteners, must be done virtually, from the things that among other things. don’t need to be done in person, like coding, She also reflected on how things will work to what is almost impossible to do at home by this year. Teams will plan and design their yourself:the construction of the robots. robots over Zoom or Discord, then parts will
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be handed out. Individual members will build different components separately, then they will all meet to put them together. The details of these meetings have not yet been decided. Another major part of the club was the tournaments. Teams spent the year building their robots to accomplish tasks at the tournaments, where they tested their skills against other teams. This year things seem like they will still be mostly the same. Teams will gather at the tournament location and compete, much like in previous years. The details of these have also not yet been decided. Overall, robotics club looks pretty different this year. Teams won’t be able to gather together to work on their robots and will have to do their parts individually. The effects of this are not yet known, but it is sure to be interesting.
A robot that was made last year in Robotics club. Photo courtesy of Justin Kumar
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Photo courtesy of Stacy Wenzel
ELD Program; Conectando por zoom con personas del D.C. POR IVAN CHAVEZ, DELMI GARCIA RAMIREZ LILIAN MARTINEZ. JESUS GALDAMEZ ELD Program students Todos los martes con Ms Wenzel y Ms primera vez que nos conocimos nosotros Lopez nos reunimos con algunos estudiantes los alumnos Sequoia High School y los de de nuestra clase de ELD 2 con estudiantes de Washington D.C. , hicimos preguntas de Washington D.C de la escuela Sidwell para conocernos unos con otros. La segunda Friends Upper School. El horario es todos semana que nos reunimos, platicamos sobre los martes después de clases a las 3:00 pm a temas de personajes históricos. Y la tercera 3:40. Estudiantes que semana fue sobre participan en el D.C. la música que les son aproximadamente gustaba a cada uno. 7 personajes de D.C La cuarta vez que nos y 8-10 de Sequoia. Me gusta este programa reunimos hicimos Nos reunimos por por que son personas de algo diferente que era zoom. Lo hacemos nuestra clase de nuestra edad y como que nos sobre para conocer a más ELD2 sobre el libro de personas y aprender podemos entender mejor. Benito Juárez. Cada sobre nuevas cosas. Las - Ivan Chavez semana, aprendíamos reuniones empezaron cosas nuevas y nos hace tres semanas atrás ayudaban cuando no exactamente el 29 de septiembre. entendíamos algo. Nos ayudan con la tarea Cada vez que participamos nos divertimos porque muchas veces nosotros no dominamos y aprendemos nuevas cosas que son muy muy bien el idioma. importantes para los estudiantes latinos que A mi Ivan Chavez me gusta este programa estamos aprendiendo inglés cada día. La por que son personas de nuestra edad y como
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que nos podemos entender mejor. Lo más interesante que aprendí de Shakespeare fue que la reina isabel fue a ver una de sus obras de teatro, y esto lo aprendo Lane. Muchas gracias chicas. Para mi Delmi Garcia las chicas son muy amables y muy divertidas. Lo más importante que aprendí fue de Shakespeare la muerte de Shakespeare desató la polémica ya que fueron pocos los que dudaron de la teoría de sus obras. Para mi, Jesus Galdamez que aprendo a hablar mejor mi inglés y aprendo más palabras y aprendo a pronunciar mejor las palabras. Para mi Lilian Martinez, lo mas importante e interesante que he aprendido en D.C connections es poder desarrollar mi ingles mucho mas y a no tener pena de hablarlo y poder conocer a muchas más personas, poder hablar con ellas acerca de cómo son y de que les gusta, y compartir sobre lo que a mi me gusta, las personas que nos ayudan son muy simpáticas y muy amables.
RAVEN REPORT | NOVEMBER 2020
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Application season wit BY CAITLIN DULSKY
Managing Editor
Almost all universities and colleges across the country are moving to a test optional application this year. We all can figure why that is the case, with so many SAT or ACT test centers being closed and thousands of students not being able to take the test. Only a few universities still require the SAT or ACT. This year of applications will be like no other year before. With so many students not submitting scores, and some schools not even looking at the submitted scores, students applications will be very different. The whole process this year will be like no other before. Students are trying their best to figure out college applications virtually and figure out what schools they want to go to through virtual visits. This time is stressful for many students and college applications can put a lot of pressure on you. But many students are doing their best to figure it out. “Thinking about your future is just really really stressful and scary,” said Senior, Sophia Rivera. Students are finding ways to manage their stress, like managing their time more, using a planner, and scheduling out time in a day just for college apps. Also students are finding relaxing things to take their mind off college applications and take breaks. “I wake up really early and do work or do college apps and sometimes I stay up late doing them. I also use a planner to stay organized. And, I manage the stress by not thinking about it, cause if I do I’ll just freak out and cry,” said Senior, Georgia Power. Students have to also make the decision to keep trying to take the ACT or SAT, or not submit test scores. Students with SAT scores will still be able to submit their scores if they would like to many schools, but with so many students not submitting their scores, people aren’t sure how helpful submitting them will be. High school seniors now have to focus and rely a lot more on their essays and transcripts this year for their applications. But they don’t have to worry this year 14
about the standardised testing, which is a a disadvantage or advantage. For many weight off of a lot of students’ shoulders. students though who might not have had “This time [students] don’t even have the best grades first semester Junior year to worry about [test scores]. So I feel like may be relying on the SAT for their apat least they could be happier, it is a hap- plication, so in this case it will help. But pier process” said so many stucollege counseldents are not or Ms. Ignaitis. submitting Also, some scores that it universities seems like subare going “test It’s really stressful to imagine all mitting them blind”, mean- the weight that’s put on [college might only ing they won’t applications]. Like every time you like hurt students. be even looking imagine the gravity of the situation “I decidat standardised I’m kind of like, oh wow ed not subtests. All UC’s mit [my SAT and CSU’s are - Georgia Power, senior score] because going test blind. I don’t know, “I don’t want it seems like to say it’s going to be easier or harder, I pointless when other people aren’t gojust want to say I feel like you’re just go- ing to have it and also for me like with ing to have as good a chance as, I don’t my grades and my extracurriculars think it’s gonna be easier, but it’s not gon- and stuff I feel like I can only bring na be more difficult.” said Ms. Ignaitis. me down” said Senior, Georgia Power. For students who are submitting Many students also have not even gotSAT or ACT we aren’t sure if this will be ten to take the SAT or ACT because of how
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th a whole new look many test centers have closed. So many universities are not taking internationstudents have registered for SAT’s and al students this year due to COVID-19 ACT’s but all the centers around here keep and some international students might cancelling tests. not be want“I haven’t goting to come ten a chance to take to the U.S. for it at all, not even like COVID-19 not even the Decemconcerns. So Do things slowly, really plan it ber test from 2019. this might help out. I don’t think the application So, I’m just not dowith admission process should be you stay up all ing it at all.” said Serates. We also night, working on their personal nior, Sophia Rivera. might not see Since applying as many stustatements, it takes time, it’s a this year is going dents here goprocess. to be so different ing to internawe might be seeing tional schools. - Ms. Ignaitis a difference in the “We had students accepted. students who We might be seeing were planning more students going on going to a to school in Califorfour year colnia to be closer to home. COVID-19 might lege that ended up going to community make kids want to stay closer to home and college like we had a group of students pull they might feel safer to be closer to fami- back” and she also saw “ we had a lot more ly. We also might be seeing more students students to do a gap year” said Ms. Ignaitis. accepted than before, or maybe less. Some The application process will be
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much different this year, but Sequoia seniors seem to keep on top of it. There are many online resources and people at school to help with this process. “What I’ve been doing is going online, like open houses and multiple college fairs. I know the school that I’m early decisioning to has essay workshops and sessions to get to know this school and stuff like that and a lot of schools have that. So if you’re really into a school. It’s good to do that also because it gives demonstrated interest. But it’s also really helpful because it gives you insight about the admissions process and how they like receiving your application and like how they process it.” said Power. It is all very stressful but time management and staying on top of it will help. Ms. Ignaitis and Ms. Rocha are always available for helping students, and many other teachers at Sequoia would be willing to help as well.
Advice for seniors: Don’t wait till the last minute Utilize online resources Reach out to college advisors and teachers Read Sequoia weekly emails Manage your time Attend virtual college events Plan out a schedule ahead of time RAVEN REPORT | NOVEMBER 2020
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A week in the life: freshman vs. senior Freshman Ariana Hernandez Mendoza
Senior Taylor Gayner
BY ARIANA HERNANDEZ MENDOZA Staff Reporter Being a high schooler attending online school during a pandemic can be extremely difficult at times; having internet issues through zoom classes, or just not having regular in person interaction with classmates or even friends. For a freshman not being able to experience a “normal� first year of high school is hard, and being a senior and not getting preparing to take in-person exams or enjoy the events of the year. Online school is often be challenging and stressful. Take a look at how freshman Ariana Hernandez and senior Taylor Gayner work it out throughout their school days.
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Ariana
Taylor
8:00
Wake up, eat and change
Wake up, eat
9:00
First class (Journalism or World Studies)
First class (Journalism or IB Applications)
10:10
Break and class preparation
Class work
10:25
Second class (English or Biology)
Second class (Free period or Physics)
11:35
Break and class preparation
Class work
11:50
Third class (PE or Algebra)
Third class (IB Spanish & IB English)
1:00
End of the day, take a nap, social media
Fourth class (IB History)
2:00
Eat lunch
End of the day, previous class homework
3:00
Take a shower
Make lunch
4:00
Social media
Talk with friends on social media
5:30
Homework
Homework
8:00
Go on a walk or play basketball
Dinner
9:00
Dinner
College applications
10:00
Brush teeth and check social media
Play guitar, go on social media
11:00
Get to bed and sleep
Netflix and sleep
Teens wait hours for license there on a Monday and waited in line for like teo hours,” Oda said “Then they told me that I wasn’t going to make it in because they closed In the Bay Area DMVs have had a major at 5:00 and they were going to stop letting impact in their system because of the world people in.” wide pandemic COVID-19. With so many Some people are giving the DMVs more teens waiting to get their permits and licenses, than one chance but still seem to be getting let it's a very tiring and stressful process. down by their service. DMVs are trying their best to respond to “I came back later in the week and still hundreds of customers trying to get permit waited several hours, so I guess just the waiting confirmation, and families are trying their best time was annoying,” Oda said to reach out to DMVs and are trying to be very The Bay Area’s guidelines for DMVs are patient. In these times it is very stressful for very different from other counties and states. both sides, but they’re pushing through it. The guidelines state that you must have a “It would have made it a lot easier if the mask, at least people who worked at the two windows DMV kept everything in down when order, had everyone fill out taking driving their stuff before actually tests and must entering” senior Jasmine stay six feet away “I came back later in the week Oda said. from each other. People are adapting and still waited several hours, In other states to this process in many so I guess just the waiting time like Georgia, the different ways, some was annoying” requirements are schedule far in advance and much different. others do it at the time they - Jasmine Oda, Senior Administrators feel is right for them. They are not allowed also schedule in more than in the car, only one place to see if they get an early response. a licensed parent and your permit will be “It was definitely annoying because I went BY ABBY AGUAYO Staff Reporter
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extended. “They kept everyone six feet apart in line, they only had limited people inside the actual building at a certain time, they didn’t do temperature checks or anything like that,” Oda said. Although some customers are upset with their experience, others have had a pretty positive experience . Some people knew what was going to happen and were prepared at the beginning of the pandemic, and had a much better experience. “We didn’t need to wait as long as we thought to hear from the DMV,” freshman Kelly Dazols said. For people this situation can be different in many ways, some might have a positive experience and others may have a negative experience. Or some are kind of in between with their experience.
Photo by Abby Aguayo at the DMV, Redwood City
RAVEN REPORT | NOVEMBER 2020
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Soccer shooting for a season
Photo Credit: Pixabay, Pexels.com
BY BEN SCHWARTZ Staff Reporter With the restrictions put in placed on depressed and filled with anxiety. soccer kids are not able to get the exercise “The lasting effects of just not being able and social interaction needed to keep a to hang out with people is something that you healthy state and they are missing recruitment kind of just have to deal with and it’s just hard opportunities. knowing that you’re not able to be around In the past, school soccer, like other sports friends all the time,” said Parker Allen. has been a way for kids to get P.E. credits and He brings up some good points and even go outside and play the game they love with though he says we just have to deal with things there friends from school. It provides relief like not being around are friends and hang out from tough home lives, and is a stress reliever with people, it is much easier said than done for anyone worried as situations like about school. are really tough Currently there are to get through several restrictions for everybody on school soccer involved. “The lasting effects of just not in California as For many the being able to hang out with people although you delay in starting is something that you kind of just can play both back in to school have to deal with and it’s just hard club soccer and soccer is just as school soccer right knowing that you’re not able to be Corona Virus now, because of rates are so high around friends all the time”. restrictions all the - Parker Allen, junior and soccer is a teams can only very physical do conditioning. sport where When you go to practice you must fill out a contact has to be applied in order to play the form stating that you do not have COVID-19 game properly. California has the second most and you have not been in contact with anyone cases in the U.S.A. at about 900,000 cases and who has had the virus, you must where a although our rates have been lower than many mask when not on the field, you must use other states lately we still have a lit of cases sanitizer when you get there and when you and many are still very concerned about that. leave, all social distancing rules still apply, It is a rightful worry as there probably would and practices are split between two days and be more new cases if we went back to school two different groups so it is almost never the soccer in full form combined with club soccer, full team playing together. So although teams this is the reason there are so many restrictions are allowed to gather, the process has been and guidelines right now, so when soccer does delayed and it does not provide the same come back, somewhere around January, the relief and opportunities it did before with the spread should be completely limited and there season taking place in the Spring instead of the should be minimal cases. Winter. With the introduction of COVID-19 into COVID-19 forced students to stay the U.S. last year taking place before many inside and limit there social interaction and Spring sports were able to compete last year activity which resulted in students becoming California had decided to prioritize those
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sports over the winter sports that will be playing at the same time as them this year. That means there will be less, if not no, field space for soccer for both practices and games. “It was just kind of an “L” for them that they didn’t have a season,” said junior on the team, Dylan Bardsley. Bardsley continued with his beliefs describing that he thinks they should have gotten a season last spring. “It kind of sucks [soccer not being prioritized by school], but it’s not really that bad. You got to accommodate for everybody so i think its a good move,” said Bardsley. This is a differing opinion than lots of kids on the soccer teams but a just one as it is fair to say that the other sports deserve a good season like everybody else got last season but it also means, Soccer players will get less playing time and exposure so those looking to get drafted by colleges scouting around the campus will be at a much bigger disadvantage than previous seasons. To improve our situation we must continue to follow the rules and decrease COVID-19 cases so we can open back up again, although there are rumors of opening soccer back up, nothing is set in stone so we must wait and continue to wear our masks and follow proper social distancing protocols. Although it is important to get school soccer back but we must also consider everybody’s safety from the virus before we can get back to where we were before.
Football kicks off tice and the athletes are following all of the guidelines set in place for COVID-19 precautions. “Naturally, one might assume that teens Football has begun! It’s crazy to think would be inclined to breach the rules and regteam’s are practicing during this era of so- ulations, but I think that because every player cial distancing. The Sequoia football team wants to have a season so badly, no one feels and many other teams have started distance the urge to act out against the rules” Crum said. practicing. But precautions have been put in Also, with the season not starting at place for the football team, and other sports, normal time Freshman might not have been that makes practicing safe. Everything is aware of practices or conditioning going on, changing with COVID-19 and the predict- but the team is still open for people to join. ed start for the football season and all other There still have been many freshmen who have fall sports is December. come onto the The football team has team so far, and been practicing and condiwho have starttioning since August and ed conditioning. holding practices socially The team is The guys truly put in the effort distant. The team has been scheduled to start split up into cohorts with a during each training session, playing in Demaximum of 12 athletes to but we’ve also been having fun cember and the a group. The players can go being together again. team is hopeful to three practices a week. - Wilson Crum, junior for the season. “We added an actu“I don’t al weight component to know what’s goit so we have barbells and ing to happen dumbbells and physio but you know I’m balls and plyo boxes and bumper plates and at least I’m at least now cautiously optimistic smash balls and all of that out on the field. whereas if you had asked me early summer, I We’re again social distance, we’ve basical- said this is this is a illusion and we’re just going ly built the workouts, on to kind of a super- to be active and then nothing’s going to hapset schedule, and each station that the athlete pen and now I actually think you know there’s is that they’ll do two exercises paired up as a a chance that we play,” said Coach Poulus. superset, and then they’ll rest and do another The coach is hoping for a great year pair of exercises,” said head coach, Rob Poulus. this year. With the team being able to start The football team has been prac- practicing and lifting multiple months beticing for a few months and conditioning is going well for the players. “Without this pre-season training, our team would be riddled with injuries during the actual season, so this is certainly an important part of the process” Junior on the football team, Wilson Crum said. The football team, like others practicing right now, have to be cautious of all COVID-19 related issues and they need to practice socially distant. “with the restrictions we have we have to wipe everything down between uses, you know, so this means that that athletes at that station for about 15 minutes getting four exercises done, then they wipe down their station and they move to the next station, so it kind of minimizes the moving parts and how many times we have to wipe everything down and athletes have to transition on that,” said Poulus. The players feel good about going to prac-
BY CAITLIN DULSKY Managing Editor
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RAVEN REPORT | NOVEMBER 2020
fore the season starts, this will help them in many ways for the season. A lot of times the younger players aren’t as physically built yet so having these extra months now gives them more strength training then they would usually get before the season starts. “I think we have a lot of athleticism, we’re a little young, that’s another thing where I think the schedule is actually helping us, because I feel like this year we have a small senior class. We’re going to have a lot more involvement from a younger crew of players, juniors and sophomores than in other years,” said Coach Poulus. The team has been practicing hard and feel their lifting is going to really help them this season. “I think the players latching on to the strength training for this is important because in a normal year, everybody’s strength training. So you’re so you’re keeping up with people, but you’re not necessarily moving past them. This is one of the few years where I’m like, we, we might be lifting at a level that other teams just can’t do, because they don’t have access to waste right now or anything like that so you know the return on investment might be pretty big on that,” said coach Poulus. We still don’t know for sure if the season will start and how it will work, but players can hope and plan for the season to stay prepared, and the Sequoia football team is doing just that!
Photo courtesy of Coach Rob Polous at Sequoia football practice.
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Dear God, stop posting videos of Black people being murdered BY ELLE PROPP Staff Reporter The Black Lives Matter movement has surged to the frontline of American news. For me, its been at the forefront my whole life. Racially motivated police brutality has been an issue since the idea of policing began in America. After the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis white police officer on May 25th, 2020, worldwide protests broke out against police brutality. Coming with the revival of the Black Lives Matter movement, who advocate against such instances, comes the rise of social media activism. With the nationwide attention and shrouded behind activism posts however, lie a devastating impact on the Black community. I think undoubtedly, being Black in the peninsula isn’t that easy. If it isn’t driving an hour and a half to find someone who can actually do my hair, it’s the fact that I can’t even find cajun hot sauce in any of the grocery stores around here. It’s the fact that I had my first Black teacher in Junior year. Sequoia, which is located in almost the exact midpoint of the peninsula, isn’t subject to any change in. Though we may boast our racial differences, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, Black students make up about 1% of the student body. In fact, we’ve got the lowest percentage out of the entire district. So for the 99% that are reading this, welcome. I want to talk to you for a bit about where digital activism goes awry. Let me bring it all the way back for a second. Disney’s Princess and the Frog premiered in the United States on December 11th, 2009, three days before my seventh birthday. A few months prior, one way or another, I found myself with the knowledge that this film had Disney’s first Black princess. We had a mermaid, before we had a Black princess. I didn’t know the deeper implications of this, as I was a kid who could not yet divide, or multiply. But this fact stuck with me. I say this, to inform you that this is not a normal burden for a first grader. A normal burden is forgetting to capitalize the beginning of a sentence, or quarreling over tetherball rules. Why did my burden have to be race? Why did I know that that was wrong? When I told my older cousins this fact, trying to seem all adult like I thought they were, they shrugged. They didn’t see a problem. “Really?” I thought to myself. “We had a fish princess before this?” I was eleven when the Fergueson unrest broke out, over the fatal shooting of Michael
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Photo credit: Pexel.com Brown, by a white police officer. The unrest when I knew my classmates had publicly used began in the end of the summer, when I was racial slurs against Black people without and just starting middle school. My classrooms repercussions, when my hair was pulled and were bubbly and upbeat, a direct contrast prodded after being deemed an afro, when to my home life. Fergueson was a common I was told that I wasn’t Black enough to even discussion voiced with concern, and disgust enter Oakland, as I was told “Black lives don’t between my Black relatives. Yet no one spoke matter.” I tried to laugh along, I tried fighting about it in school. I learned the social precedent back, I tried to take it seriously, but nothing that summer in the white-dominated parts of worked to stop the feeling of being less-than. I the Bay Area; Black culture, Black news, and accepted the losing battle. Black ideas are not celebrated. They are not I’ve been pretty good at staying out of discussed. This was further confirmed by the social justice since then. This hasn’t been able perplexed stares I would get as we read To to be the case since May 26th, 2020. The world Kill A Mockingbird, discussed the civil rights has become flipped, replacing cold glances movement, or even spoke about rap music as with empathetic ones. It is now taboo to not a whole. It was almost as if I were a museum speak about the gross instances of racism in display, like I could spit out bullet pointed our country, executed by our police. From information that prove that Black people do being shrouded in the shadows, the Black exist here. community has become the new spotlight. If that alienating Social media has experience at the quite literally erupted beginning of middle with videos, graphics, school taught me information posts, anything more, it calls to actions, action Black Students make up about was to follow suit plans, to the point that 1% of the student body in the don’t-askany internet-based National Center for Education don’t-tell policy. I platform has become Statistics grit my teeth and the vessel for selfbore it as I was told education, especially I’d be the one who’d by non-Black peers. sit at the back of the bus, as comments about It’s almost comedic, in a so-sad-it’s-funny my father were scrawled into my yearbook. way, how I get to witness others learn about I gritted my teeth to what felt like the core things I already had to experience at a young in high school, when my hair was compared age. At this point, I feel like we should all to that of a sheep, when classmates loudly commemorate this by changing the Instagram perpetuated racist tropes, including but not logo into a brightly colored infographic about limited to watermelon and Kentucky Fried how to treat others of different skin tones Chicken in the middle of history lessons, with respect, because it’s so uncommon that it when I had to sit and interact innocently requires a how-to pamphlet.
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Please don’t get me wrong. I am so I cannot help but to think about any Black happy that some little girl out there won’t go child who decided to set up social media through feeling this isolating culture growing recently, and will have to grow into this up. I am ecstatic that a boy like me will enter becoming the norm. How do you think they school without having to shed tears when he will feel, knowing that it is socially acceptable gets home. And I am not here to bash, in any to know and to post about systemic racism in way, anyone trying to learn ways to actively the United States, but not to actually go through better themselves for others, how to learn with posting plans to fix them? I cannot help when some things are harmful, and recognize but think of the people who rallied after the plague that is systemic racism. But I am Rodney King’s brutalizaiton, (another Black concerned that the victim of a police Black community officer’s abusive are going to have to hand) seeing that face a new kind of we have regressed obstacle to this wave to the point where Police brutality has become of support. Black murder is incredibly normalized. It P o l i c e now the internet’s brutality has entertainment. That shouldn’t be. become incredibly it is a currency that normalized. It we use to share in shouldn’t be. order to feel morally Every week or so I see this viral instagram okay that we’ve let police brutality carry on this video, and in the first few seconds, George far. Floyd’s death flashes, as you see the light Perhaps it is the nature of social media, to drain out from his eyes. There is no warning. produce small snippets of the real world. But There is no caption that implies that we will the real world is not always small snippets. We see someone’s last breath being taken. There cannot weigh someone’s life, and equate it to is indication that we will watch someone’s the weight of an Instagram story post or two. child, someone’s father, live for the last time, We cannot equate a life taken, with minimal crushed under the weight of a cop’s knee. The to no consequence, to a mere link in our bio. I only masking we have is a blurry eye with a am not here to deny that social media has been slash over it, indicating that the content may instrumental in spreading the word around. be sensitive to the reader. For inciting conversation, allowing us to I for one, believe that that video is a bit address our implicit bias, and keep up with the more than subjectively sensitive. world. But there is a line between information, I cannot log onto my own social media and trauma porn, which very little people anymore, without being reminded daily of the know when they cross. rampant amounts of racially motivated police And I get it. It’s a confusing line. I’ve brutality going on in our country. I cannot tripped them up before too. But I haven’t been see anything past reposts of tone-deaf quotes able to pick up my phone, and use social media from politicians that only serve to remind to relax with friends, without being reminded us of the sub-human standards Black people of the reality that police brutality for Africanare subjected to. I saw a compilation footage Americans have had very little change since I of police plummeting people to the ground, was eleven. I know it’s a hard time, when you either by a car, or by something that resembled are faced with an information overload, and a mob surge. It had fifty four million views at you realize that the world around you is not the time of writing this. No one’s death should what you think it is anymore. I know, maybe become a viral tweet. No one’s brutalization more than anyone you might now, that you deserves to be demoted to a quick clip. Trauma can feel helpless, and useless. With a half a year has become so monotizational, that I see it weekly. And to what do these posts truly accomplish? How does this help aid in the fight against racially motivated violence against Black people? You use the hashtag; you must be desiring to fight for the motive of the movement, right? I ask you this, because I want your candid answer. What does posting about our President encouraging a white nationalist group do to serve you, besides notifying others that you are “woke?” What does captioning a video of a Black man with a knee on his neck and pleading for his life, with the words “damn” do to help others?
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RAVEN REPORT | NOVEMBER 2020
coming up on the anniversary of the beginnings of these posts, I just ask that you begin to take the time to consider what you are placing out into the world. Not only the ways in which it may benefit you, but benefit others. The purpose of these posts are to help marginalized communities. It is to reduce the stigma around speaking about it. It is to limit the stares, the uncorrected comments, the alienation culture that has festered in the world for so long. Perhaps, due to the nationwide effort, we can eliminate the culture entirely. If you have in fact taken your energy to post information guides, protest details, I appreciate you. To everyone who has tried to help, I appreciate you. But I don’t think I’m ready to say thank you yet. To say thank you is to imply that the deed is done. Six months of feverish posting, of which can be quite literally defined as a “trend,” does not erase a lifetime of silence. We’re not ready to just pretend that a fear-mongering quote and a video of a literal death is enough to eradicate racism in America. Trayvon Martin, who was murdered at the age of seventeen, in 2012, was the same age I am. The same age of the majority of the senior class right now. He did not get to plan for his future, the same way we are right now. In order to honor a life he was robbed of, I’m beginning to take my time to help prevent children like him to meet the same fate, and work to try to dismantle the system that caused his death. When I do take the time to post, I try and ask myself how the post serves the greater community. If I cannot answer that, I don’t post it. It’s a pretty good practice. To quote a protestor’s sign in from a 1992 rally against the acquittal of the LAPD officers who brutalized Rodney King, “Stop beating my people.” Now I come to you in 2020, with an even older message: Stop beating the dead horse. After six months of intense proof, we are all caught up to recognize that systemic racism exists. We can now stop needing to share the proof that it still exists. We cannot begin to try to remove the horse, and the damage it has caused over hundreds of years, until we stop prodding at its corpse, to prove that it is dead. And if we ever want to even consider the possibility of getting a new horse, we have to start there.
Photos courtesy of Prateek Katyal
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Photo credit: City of San Carlos
Performative allyship pervades San Carlos signs to show how much we San Carlos integrity of society once an entire city council citizens care about minorities. Or perhaps decides that public resources should be used a racist passerby will decide that Black lives to convey such a message rather than to take This year, I signed up for the San Carlos do indeed matter once they see the message action to make clear, tangible results. I didn’t write this article to attack the YAC, Youth Advisory Council. During the two social plastered along Laurel Street. Meanwhile police brutality will continue, or San Carlos, or anyone. (Speaking of which, justice subcommittee meetings we’ve had so Black people will continue YAC supervisor far, the focal point has been contributing to the to live with their rights Carolyn Matoso Black Lives Matter movement, and rightfully can be contacted so. What have we come up with? How are we infringed upon, and the through the San going to change San Carlos from the inside systemic racism that has been rotting America’s Carlos Parks & Rec out? A 537-foot-long mural that says “Black Meanwhile police brutality promise of freedom and website if anyone’s Lives Matter.” If things go as planned, it will will continue, Black people will interested or has be painted on Laurel Street sometime in the equality for 300 years will continue to live with their rights remain unchanged. This any questions). near future. money could instead be However, I do infringed upon. This, to me, makes little sense. We are used to create resources for believe that the asking the city for a relatively large grant to integrity of an put towards the planning of this project alone, Black teens in San Carlos, organization and even more to commission an artist and or be put towards a charity that can make effective use lies not only in buy supplies—all for a mural that is predicted of taxpayer money. its purpose and to last, at best, half a year before wearing away. But rather than trying intention but in its (Or, better yet, could face the same fate as the to solve the bigger issue, efficacy and its ability to create real change. BLM mural we are buying into a sort of Having a noble goal or solid mission statement in Redwood performative allyship where doesn’t make a worthy cause. Having said City—painted San Carlos can feel good that, I do believe that the YAC is a worthy over by the city about itself while not having cause and is making mostly successful efforts who permitted While I appreciate the to make any real changes. San towards improving the San Carlos community, it in the first willingness to demonstrate Carlos harbors a vast majority but I also think that an organization with the place.) of middle to upper-middle authority to use taxpayer money should be While I solidarity, I think that the class white people, and like held accountable for the outcome of those appreciate the difference this mural will every other town in America, investments (especially if the outcome is willingness to make is nominal. has a racial makeup that is nothing at all!) demonstrate more than coincidental. solidarity, I While the term think that the “performative allyship” has difference this become all too familiar in the context of mural will make is nominal. Maybe it will convince some pedestrians to plant a similar individuals on social media, the underlying sign in their yards, and we can all have BLM issue becomes more threatening to the
BY CARLA ROBERTS Copy Editor
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Social media trends surface in pandemic BY ISABELLE BOGAN Staff Reporter
2020 has proven to be a tough year for many people, especially teachers and students. Through the challenges the pandemic has posed, people have found ways to entertain themselves while forced to isolate indoors, such as increased use of social media apps like TikTok, Youtube, Instagram and Snapchat. “I’ve been on social media since 6th grade, and I’ve never seen it being used as much as it is now,” Junior Samantha Laing said. An app that quickly became a user favorite is TikTok, where creators share content to entertain and positively influence users to remain hopeful during tough times. It has had over 2 million downloads since April, 2020. This app has helped people find creative outlets since social media has become a large part of daily routines. Many Gen Z millennials, who take up the majority of the app users, are responsible for the new trends that have swept the internet. These include whipped coffee, quarantine vlogs and daily routines, singing and dancing challenges and more. People have also experimented with different styles and clothing, such as the indie and alternative skater styles, new makeup looks, like darker eyeliner and soap brows, and new hair styles, like curtain bangs and hair dye. “One of my favorite trends that I have observed are the ways people have changed and dyed their hair and aren’t afraid to wear different types of clothing,” said senior Nicolette Cruz. “I like that people wear what they want with less judgement.” Although many trends have stemmed from TikTok, Instagram has been the hub of trends as well. Younger people have become actively immersed in politics, and better educated on the presidential policies through educational posts and videos. “I’ve observed that more people have a broader understanding of world issues online, because social media started as less educational than it is now”, said Human Biology teacher Camille Erskine. “It’s started a
lot of conversations, and I hope that continues beyond the election and pandemic.” Political discussions on social media and online have increased a lot since the start of the pandemic. However, although people have become a lot more politically aware, social media has become a lot more politicized. Everytime a user opens their phone and scrolls through their feed, it becomes impossible to escape politics. “Social media has become even more politicized since the start of the pandemic”, said English and AVID teacher Jasmine Schimek. “People have very strong opinions online, there are posts about the protests and riots everywhere all, and it is becoming more
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Social media has become even more politicized since the start of the pandemic. Jasmine Schimek, English and AVID Teacher
anxiety-inducing to go on social media when it is all political.” Another issue becoming more socially aware, although not at all a “trend”, is mental health and eating disorders. Users feel comfortable enough to share their mental health struggles such as depression and anxiety with others. People are doing better jobs at educating themselves in order to become better allies to their friends and family. People have also shared ways to have the safest and best recovery themselves. “Students have demonstrated excellent
resilience, compassion and openness to trying to be super positive of others during these times, and this energy is catching on”, said English teacher Jane Woodman. “People are realizing the importance of being extra kind and supportive of each other, and it starts to show on the screen during classes, and people feed off of that.” However, there have also been a lot of negative social media trends regarding body types. Trends like the “hourglass challenge”, where girls wear tight clothes to show off their figures and “What I Eat in a Day”, where people show users their diets, are negative. These trends result in more insecurities and pressure to adhere to social norms based on what is considered a beautiful body. More than one-third of Americans reported their mental health decreasing since the start of the pandemic, and 60 percent say the virus has affected their daily lives (Wan, William; The Washington Post), and any awareness brought onto these issues is positive and helpful. “Even though there has been a lot of positivity on the internet, I’ve also seen a big spike in workout videos online, and people promoting unhealthy weight loss videos”, said Laing. Although the pandemic has posed many hardships to society, social media presence has increased in different ways. Despite the positive trends that have surfaced, such as more political and mental health and eating disorder awareness, there have also been toxic trends. These include videos and trends that focus on changing people’s body images in negative ways. ”I think it is great that people are finding light-hearted things to do amidst these hard times, said Woodman. Trends have helped to distract people from this difficult year and are something that people can share together in the comfort of their own homes.
RAVEN REPORT | NOVEMBER 2020
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The quarantine games among us
BY STEVEN ORTEGA AND XAVIER CASTILLO Staff Reporters “Among Us”, a game that is like murder mystery, which came out in 2018. The game has been populating a lot since the beginning of 2020. In order to get more information we have interviewed three people and asked them how they feel about “Among Us”. “Among Us” has a backstory, there is a headquarters building known as MIRA HQ. Therefore, we can assume that the crewmates are part of the MIRA organization. The imposters try to sabotage the crewmates in order to complete their goals. Their goals are to sabotage the ship and the planet, kill all the crewmates, and to hide their identity while doing everything. They start to do this by cutting the oxygen, turning off the power, and turning off their communication. MIRA tries to investigate who is/are the impostors by talking to each other and discussing.
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The three people that we have interviewed so far are Juan Lopez, a college student, Jonathan Ortega, a college student, and Christan Garcia, a freshman. First we are going to talk about Juan Lopez, he told us that he likes to play many different video games. We continued by asking him a few questions about “Among Us”. Juan stated that he found out about “Among Us” in 2018 and he found out because his friends told him about it. Juan replied that he loved the game because of the different positions and objectives that the game provides. Juan answered, “Imposter is probably my favorite role because I get to kill others without people knowing.” Second we are going to talk about Christan Garcia, he started telling us about how he got into video games and how he loves them. Afterwards we asked him some questions about the different video games he played. Christian first found out
about video games when he was eight years old, his first console was an xbox 360. His favourite video games are, “Fortnite”, “Among Us”, and “Roblox”. Unfortunately he said that he cannot play with any of his friends, so he decides to play with random people. There are many people in the world that can call themselves gamers, therefore there is a reason to interview others and find news about video games. The next person we interviewed was Jonathan Ortega who is a college student. We asked him some questions about the video games he plays and when he started to play them. Jonathan began to explain that he loved to play video games and some of his favorites were, “Call of duty”, “Crash Bandicoot”
and many more. He stated that he has been playing video games ever since he was a kid. Growing up he did not have all the new consoles or video games but he had one old console, he was happy with it though. He started to get into video games when he was about 10, he saw an ad about some new video games, so then he asked his mother and father if they could get him the game, and they said yes. From there on he played that game and many others to the most and enjoyed each of them. We then asked him questions about “Among Us”. He confirmed that he had found out about “Among Us” when he had seen a youtube video about the game. He loved the game because of the concept of the game. He explained that he loved to be an imposter and play the game with his friends. To conclude “Among Us” took over the gaming world by having an amazing objective and making online possible.
POR STEVEN ORTEGA Y XAVIER CASTILLO Reporteros del personal "Among Us", un juego que es como un misterio de asesinato, que salió en 2018. El juego se ha estado poblando mucho desde principios de 2020. Para obtener más información, hemos entrevistado a tres personas y les hemos preguntado cómo se sienten acerca de "Among Us". "Among Us" tiene una historia de fondo, hay un edificio de la sede conocido como MIRA HQ. Por tanto, podemos asumir que los compañeros de tripulación forman parte de la organización MIRA. Los impostores intentan sabotear a los compañeros de tripulación para completar sus objetivos. Sus objetivos son sabotear la nave y el planeta, matar a todos los compañeros de tripulación y ocultar su identidad mientras hacen todo. Empiezan a hacer esto cortando el oxígeno, apagando la energía y apagando su comunicación. MIRA intenta investigar quiénes son los impostores hablando entre sí y discutiendo. Las tres personas que hemos entrevistado hasta ahora son Juan López, estudiante universitario, Jonathan Ortega, estudiante universitario y Christan García, estudiante de primer año. Primero vamos a hablar de Juan López, nos dijo que le gusta jugar muchos videojuegos diferentes. Continuamos haciéndole algunas preguntas sobre “Among Us”. Juan dijo que se enteró de “Among Us” en 2018 y se enteró porque sus amigos se lo contaron. Juan respondió que le encantaba el juego por las diferentes posiciones y objetivos que ofrece el juego. Juan respondió con: "El impostor es probablemente mi papel favorito porque puedo matar a otros sin que la gente lo sepa". En segundo lugar, vamos a hablar de Christan García, él comenzó a contarnos cómo se metió en los videojuegos y cómo los ama. Luego le
hicimos algunas preguntas sobre los diferentes videojuegos que jugaba. Christian se enteró de los videojuegos cuando tenía ocho años, su primera consola fue una Xbox 360. Sus videojuegos favoritos son “Fortnite”, “Among Us” y “Roblox”. Desafortunadamente, dijo que no puede jugar con ninguno de sus amigos, por lo que decide jugar con personas al azar. Las tres personas que hemos entrevistado hasta ahora son Juan López, estudiante universitario, Jonathan Ortega, estudiante universitario, y Christan García, estudiante de primer año. Primero vamos a hablar de Juan López, nos dijo que le gusta jugar muchos videojuegos diferentes. Continuamos haciéndole algunas preguntas sobre “Among Us”. Juan dijo que se enteró de “Among Us” en 2018 y se enteró porque sus amigos se lo contaron. Juan respondió que le encantaba el
juego por las diferentes posiciones y objetivos que ofrece el juego. Juan respondió con: "El impostor es probablemente mi papel favorito porque puedo matar a otros sin que la gente lo sepa". En segundo lugar, vamos a hablar de Christan García, él comenzó a contarnos cómo se metió en los videojuegos y cómo los ama. Luego le hicimos algunas preguntas sobre los diferentes videojuegos que jugaba. Christian se enteró de los videojuegos cuando tenía
ocho años, su primera consola fue una Xbox 360. Sus videojuegos favoritos son “Fortnite”, “Among Us” y “Roblox”. Desafortunadamente, dijo que no puede jugar con ninguno de sus amigos, por lo que decide jugar con personas al azar. Hay muchas personas en el mundo que pueden llamarse a sí mismos jugadores, por lo tanto, hay una razón para entrevistar a otros y encontrar noticias sobre videojuegos. La siguiente persona que entrevistamos fue Jonathan Ortega, quien es un estudiante universitario. Le hicimos algunas preguntas sobre los videojuegos que juega y cuándo empezó a jugarlos. Jonathan comenzó a explicar que le encantaba jugar videojuegos y algunos de sus favoritos eran, "Call of duty", "Crash Bandicoot" y muchos más. Dijo que ha estado jugando videojuegos desde que era un niño. Al crecer, no tenía todas las consolas o videojuegos nuevos, pero tenía una consola vieja, sin embargo, estaba contento con ella. Comenzó a meterse en los videojuegos cuando tenía unos 10 años, vio un anuncio sobre algunos videojuegos nuevos, entonces les preguntó a su madre y a su padre si podían conseguirle el juego, y dijeron que sí. A partir de ahí jugó al máximo ese juego y muchos otros y disfrutó de cada uno de ellos. Luego le hicimos preguntas sobre "Among Us". Confirmó que se había enterado de "Among Us" cuando vio un video de YouTube sobre el juego. Le encantaba el juego por el concepto del juego. Explicó que le encantaba ser un impostor y jugar con sus amigos. Para concluir, “Among Us” se apoderó del mundo de los juegos al tener un objetivo asombroso y hacer posible la conexión en línea.
RAVEN REPORT | NOVEMBER 2020
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Forests further frayed by fires BY JAY TIPIRNENI Editor-in-Chief With repeated fires raging in our communities and polluting our skies, we face a looming existential threat of environmental destruction. California has experienced an increased severity of wildfires, a major result of climate change worsening in the past century, resulting in more than four thousand acres of land burned as of Oct. 4. The polluted skies have caused many working students to suffer as a result, leading to difficulties during their trek to work. “Experiencing the air pollution and fires have been difficult for me because I do have a job and I have to walk there and back most of the time so it makes it harder,” senior Dahlia Bahamondes said. “And then with the masks just making it feel like I can’t breathe on top of the ash was not good.” These issues become even more burdensome with students who may work outside for long periods of time. “I was a bit worried [about the air quality] because I knew my job depended on taking orders outside and so when I checked the air quality before work during the horrible fires, it said ‘extremely unhealthy air quality,’” senior Abraham Barbosa said. “At that point I was thinking to myself, ‘is working even worth inhaling this really bad air?’” Many have been experiencing lung discomfort and damage due to the fires, and paired with the COVID-19 pandemic, it can prove to be especially discomforting.
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We have to limit the amount of carbon output. It’s not even a choice if we want our species to continue. Debolina Dutta, Environmental Systems and Sciences Teacher
“When I’m wearing a face mask outside when I am walking, I’ll get stuffy and fogged up compared to if there was better air quality,” senior Alexia Ambriz said. One of the main reasons for increasingly harsh wildfire seasons is because of climate change and its impact on global ecosystems. “[As a result of climate change], the soils are going to get drier, the plant life is going
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At that point I was thinking to myself, ‘is working even worth inhaling this really bad air?’ Abraham Barbosa, Senior
to get drier, all of these things leading to increased forest fires throughout west coasts of the northern Hemisphere, and east coasts in the southern hemisphere,” Environmental Systems and Sciences teacher Debolina Dutta said. “And again, all due to anthropogenic increases in greenhouse gases, primarily methane and carbon dioxide.” There are a multitude of practices that can mitigate the effects of climate change that may reduce the severity of forest fires along the west coast. The only issue is making the transition into sustainability as a species. “We have to limit the amount of carbon output. It’s not even a choice if we want our species to continue,” Dutta said.
Bay Area residents gathered in the Castro District of San Francisco on Saturday, Nov. 9 to celebrate after Associated Press officials called the 2020 presidential election, naming President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the winners. Photo courtesy of Jake DiTargiani
June
June 3: Three fired Minneapolis police officers are charged with aiding and abetting in the murder of George Floyd June 15: Supreme Court ruling states that employers cannot discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity
Portland BLM protests gain media attention for the brutality of the police toward protesters July 17: Civil Rights leader John Lewis dies at age 80
August
August 4: Beirut, Lebanon suffers huge blast, causing at least 200 deaths and 6,500 injuries August 11: Joe Biden officially announces Kamala Harris as his Vice President, making her the first woman of color to be on a presidential ballot August 15: Thunder and lightning storms in the bay area start massive wildfires August 23: Jacob Blake is shot and injured by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin
July
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September
September 5: 50 people are arrested on the 100th day of Portland protests against police brutality September 9: California is clouded in an orange haze due to excessive air pollution as a result of wildfires September 18: Supreme Court Associate Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, dies of pancreatic cancer September 27: The New York Times reveals Trump’s years of tax avoidance September 29: The first presidential debate is held
October
October 2: President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump announce they have COVID-19 October 5: President Trump leaves the hospital October 7: The first vice presidential debate is held October 25: 60 million people vote early by mail October 27: Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
